Motor Racing Roundup : Garza Suffers Broken Leg in CART 200; Rahal Wins

Defending champion Bobby Rahal slipped past Danny Sullivan with 10 laps to go and, with the help of a caution flag, held off Roberto Guerrero of Colombia to win Sunday’s Mid-Ohio CART 200 at Lexington, Ohio.

The race ended under the caution flag.

Seven laps from the end, Josele Garza was involved in a crash in which he suffered a broken leg. Garza’s car, traveling at 130 m.p.h., touched wheels with a car driven by Randy Lewis and slammed into a guardrail.

The Mexican driver, 24, a former Indy 500 rookie of the year, had to be pried from the mangled wreckage of his car, which landed upside down in the accident. He was in fair condition Sunday night.

Rahal averaged 103.430 m.p.h. as he picked up first-place money of $56,910.

Mario Andretti, who won the pole and started the race leading the season standings, led Sullivan through the first 12 laps but slowed on lap 13 and pulled into the pits with a fuel-starvation problem.

On lap 36, Michael Andretti’s car bumped Al Unser Jr.’s car and both limped around to the pits. Unser was able to get back out after losing just one lap to the leaders, but Andretti, who came into the race second to his father in the standings, lost five laps in the pits.

Unser wound up fifth, a lap down, and the younger Andretti finished 12th.

Mario Andretti held onto the point lead after 11 of 17 races with 97 points, with Sullivan second at 96. Michael Andretti was third with 94, followed by Unser 91, Rahal 86 and Cogan 75.

Desire Wilson of Britain finished in 13th place, six laps behind. The 32-year-old resident of Dublin, Ohio, was the first woman to compete in an Indy-car race since she placed 13th in the Phoenix 150 in October, 1983.

In a Super Vee race, Steve Bren of Newport Beach led from start to finish to take an 18-second victory over Scott Atchison of Bakersfield. The victory was the second of the year for Bren, who won the series opener at Long Beach.

Pole-sitter Tim Richmond passed Bill Elliott with seven laps remaining to win the rain-delayed Southern 500 NASCAR stock car race at Darlington, S.C.

Richmond, who has won 5 of the last 11 races on the Winston Cup circuit, passed Elliott on the front straightaway after Elliott, the 1985 event winner, hit the wall in the first turn and was slowed.

Elliott, whose win a year ago earned him a $1 million bonus, had taken the lead when Richmond’s teammate, Geoff Bodine, ran out of gas on lap 352 of the 367-lap event.

The race was delayed by rain for 2 hours 16 minutes after the first 14 laps had been run.